


Monopoly Games

by nidorina



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Stabdads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-13
Updated: 2011-11-13
Packaged: 2017-10-26 01:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/277039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nidorina/pseuds/nidorina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aradia is dead, but not for long. Stabdads AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monopoly Games

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Atta Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/5308) by Luckyspike. 



> **Please read[this fic](http://luckyspike.tumblr.com/post/9180400395/i-dont-typically-write-sadfic) by Luckyspike before you read any of this!** This fic was based on it. Unfortunately left unbeta'd as usual and it's been sitting in my Google Docs for aaaages.

Slowly, Aradia's eyes flickered open, and her first thought was _Death's interior decorating skills could use some work._

The room she was in was about the size of an average living room, perhaps just a bit smaller, and she could see a hallway, even darker than the barely-lit area she had woken in, but something told her not to go there; she wouldn't find anything interesting there, anyway.

She was standing already when she awoke, just next to a worn bookcase with a cabinet on top in the room's corner, and if she turned just slightly to her right she would be directly facing a faded red armchair if she ignored the circular wooden table and its chairs in the room's very center. Although there were no doors or windows, there were curtains, ruffled with a shade of red that matched the chair but not the grayed walls and certainly not the black carpet.

“I'm dead,” Aradia spoke out to nothing and stared up at a relatively understated chandelier above the table. It wasn't a question, nor a concern—just a fact. A reassurance.

“Not for long,” came a voice and the girl turned to watch as a figure in a long black cloak emerged into the light from the hallway.

“Hello, Mister Death,” she said, because to call him that just felt right, and the feeling of just knowing wasn't even a strange one. She offered a slight curtsy and for a moment felt awkward standing there in her school uniform and not something nicer (one ought to be formal, she thought, when meeting an infinite entity like Death). “Not for long?”

“You know these things when you've been around as long as I have,” said Death. “Just dying itself opens your mind.”

Aradia paused in thought. “I'm glad. I'm sure you're a wonderful host but I would very much like to return to my Daddy.”

“He misses you,” Death nodded. “But you can't go back just yet.”

“Oh?”

“These things take time. Don't worry, though. It won't be very long here.” Death strode across the room and Aradia couldn't help but notice that it looked more like he was gliding with the way his robes trailed around him. “But I've stocked the shelf in the meantime, so you won't be bored.”

“That's very thoughtful of you,” Aradia couldn't help but smile at just the idea that such an important figure would take her comfort into account. “I knew you were a wonderful host.”

“Well,” Death chuckled. He ran his bony fingers across the cabinet doors and the bookshelves and said, “I have books, some board games, a deck of cards...”

“Do you have Monopoly?”

“Monopoly? I do.”

“Will you play with me?” It was quite the opportunity, she thought, to play board games with Death. “I'm very good. Daddy taught me how, and we play every Friday.”

Death's hand hovered by the shelf for a moment before he reached forward and pulled out a long white box. When he turned to face her, the lines that made a mouth on the skull under his hood had split into a grin. “No one ever sticks around long enough for a good game of Monopoly.”

She pulled back one of the chairs and took a seat as Death placed the box on the table and sat down himself. He distributed money and she set up the board.

“Which piece do you like?” asked Death.

“I usually just take whatever is leftover. Everyone else gets so riled up about their pieces.” She paused. “I like the hat, though. That's Daddy's piece.”

“Take the hat.” Death offered. “I've always liked the dog.”

At that, she giggled. “Mister Slick throws a fit if he doesn't get the scottie dog.”

“He's not a very sportsmanlike fellow, is he?”

“Not at all.”

He let Aradia roll first and she carefully slid the tiny medal fedora around the board. They spoke between rolls and purchases, about the most entertaining pickups Death had made, about her family and all of their quirks, about school and the other immortal beings and how much of a pain dealing with coworkers could be, and archeology and just how some of those ruins became ruins and anything else that came to mind.

“You are good at this,” Death admitted as Aradia placed another three houses on one of her properties.

“Daddy taught me all of his tricks,” she said and moved her house into the Free Parking space. “But I've never beaten him. I hope to one day, though.”

“Just keep practicing. It makes perfect, so they say.” He paused and handed her a few paper bills. “Except in sword swallowing. This is a good story, actually...”

The two laughed over Death's retelling and she rolled the dice again. Hours, it felt like, went by and they skated across the board and shuffled colored currency and cardboard deeds back and forth until Death landed on another of Aradia's many owned squares. He reached for his money but came up short. He glanced across his property deeds but not a single one was left unmortgaged.

“Illinois Avenue is the square landed on most often,” Aradia noted, looking down at Death's piece. “Except for Jail, that is.”

“Huh.”

She glanced at his side of the table. “Have I bankrupted you?”

“I guess so. I'll be damned,” Death said, but he was beaming. “I'll be damned.”

“You were an excellent opponent, Mister Death,” she returned the grin and extended her hand and he took it in his skeletal, surprisingly warm fingers and gave it a firm shake.

“You, too. I'm sure you'll have your father beat in no time.” He stood and began to clear off the board. “Just in time, too. You've got to go.”

She glanced down at her hand and tilted her head. It had become translucent and glowed an ever so slight blue. “Oh.”

“I look forward to meeting your father, Aradia—though preferably later than sooner. He sounds like a good man.”

“He is.” She nodded. “I'm sorry I couldn't help you clean up the game.” Her vision blurred and the room itself seemed to dim and she could almost see the gentle outlines of faces coming into view. “When we see each other again, all three of us—you, me and Daddy—we should play Monopoly together.”

“We should.”

“Daddy can teach you the tricks he taught me.”

Death's smile softened. “It'd be an honor.”

The table and the curtains were dissolving into the blackness and she could see Karkat's face and Mister Slick's, clearer than Death's now. It was strange, she thought, to be in two planes of reality at once. And yet at the same time, she understood.

“Goodbye, Mister Death. I'm sure I'll see you again.”

“Goodbye.” He closed the Monopoly box. “Oh, and tell your father about our match for me. I'm sure he'll be very proud.”

Aradia could only beam back at him and nod as Death and his home faded out of her view and she could see the inside of Mister Slick's house so much more clearly as she passed between life and death.

 _I'll see you soon, Daddy,_ she thought. _Don't be afraid._

**Author's Note:**

> Confession time, I have no idea how to play Monopoly. Not totally satisfied with this but I liked the concept too much to not post it, I guess.


End file.
